Participants:
Scene run by Abby.
| Scene Title | Black and White and Dog All Over |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Not all of the penguins got rounded up. Now, some of them have turf wars. With dogs. |
| Date | January 27, 2011 |
The sun is still up in the sky, just threatening to wash the white clouds in red and provide a brilliant sunset to accompany the landscape of city and snow. School is out, quitting time is coming up and the streets are going to be getting busy soon enough.
Business are open, signs flipped to welcome any and all customers, advertising sales used to lure potential clients into the stores to buy something, anything. There's more than one 'going out of business' or 'moving sale' sign up in windows, clearances off everything. Fire sales. A city utilities truck is set up, a manhole open, the orange fencing around it as a blue jacketed individual harps on his radio to someone below.
A white truck, the back having multiple small doors, locked from the outside and vented, Animal Control written across the side in blue. A guy sits in the truck, a coffee and pastry in hand, idling, words on the back cheerily reminding you to not leave your pets in cars. An old married couple sit on a bench, holding weathered and liver spotted hands as they wait for the city bus to come along.
A skinny girl in tight skinny jeans, a multitude of piercing's and converse sneaker, blue mohawk and layers of sweaters and hoodies is running along the street, ipod blasting away in her ears and hands reaching out to tap everything as she goes by, adding her own accompaniment to the sounds of the city.
Manholes steam, a street vendor braves the cold and sells roasted chestnuts to those who want it, those who dare to eat vendor food, arguing with another vendor who's parked his cart and ready to sell hot dogs to the people who are going to soon be making their way home. Pigeons scurry here and there and for New York in it's current state, it's pretty tranquil.
For Ziadie, it's one of those days. A long one, that doesn't leave him really in a good mood at the end. The business he'd had here is done, but the old man lingers on the sidewalk, leaning on his cane. Every so often, he pats his pockets as if to reassure himself that he still has everything he came with — not that there's anything actually in his pockets for a pickpocket to get, but that doesn't stop the habit. A cigarette hangs from his lips, and after the moment passes, he starts his slow walk down the street once again, ignoring most of the rest of the world.
Why is she out here? It is busy and Harmony does not handle busy very well. It stresses her out on so many levels anymore. One in specific.. and the only one that really matters is the mental level. There are thoughts that come from the average everyday person that will drive her absolutely nuts. It is enough to make her want to jam a screwdriver into her brain.. or everyone elses. She is doing her best to squeeze off the flow of her ability, to keep stray thoughts from entering her mind as she quickly makes her way down the street, like someone holding their breath and running through a room that someone just farted in. Got to get to clean air. She is so eager to get through that she doesn't really pay any mind that she is bumping into a person or two. It is so busy.
It's good to be back on the mainland. Despite the fact that Griffin Mihangle is currently peeking around the corners and generally being a terribly twitchy telekinetic, Griffin is happy to be back. Sad to have left his son on Pollepel again, and the day after his birthday no less, but it had to be done, really. And so, Griffin is walking around!
He's also in disguise, as much as he can be. Since the pictures of a fairly clean-cut Griffin were posted in the papers and on the DoEA's wanted list, he's grown his hair out a bit, and he's even grown out a nice layer of facial hair. He's also lacking his usual suits; those were burnt, since he had worn them so much. No, now the tall fellow is wearing a pair of blue jeans, and a rather thick coat, a hood up and over his head to conceal his face, along with a large pair of sunglasses.
Much better to take all of the measures he can to avoid recognition. Green eyes dart around the street from behind those shades, the man's hands shoved into his pockets. He's on high alert right now. Who knows when FRONTLINE agents will jump out and attack him. Dude is paranoid.
In theory, there are any number of things that Evan should be working on right now. Assigned exercises handed out in class last week and since returned, or his own research… or that other piece of research that he's been attacking off and on. Tough nut, that one. But after enough long days in a row - even if they're only an hour or two longer than they were supposed to be - an extended break is called for. Greenwich should do nicely for the moment; maybe he'll make it over to Chinatown in time for dinner.
Defense is the watchword of the day - everyone is doing their best to defend themselves from so many factors. The weather, the military, the economic forces and so on. For his part, the burly teenager known as Brand is cloaked against the cold. Knit cap, a wool peacoat, a scarf - a bit of a militaristic look to his outfit. As for the crime, or Frontline? He walks without concern, his assertive stance and posture part of the reason he won't be challenge. He doesn't look weak, or easy prey, and thus the cowards are likely to pass him over.
A few steps further, and Ziadie pauses once again, a long drag from the cigarette in his mouth and a bit of tapping his fingers on the handle of his cane. Eyes glance to Griffin, though, curious, but he shakes his head shortly, leans against a wall for a moment to pull a flask from his pocket, glancing over the street again.
God, people move! Harmony is doing her best to get past folks so that she can get to a less populated area where she can take a breath again. She needs to get back to her apartment, as she isn't sure why she thought it was a good idea to come out before it got a bit darker. But she needed to get something for her brother, so she is braving the world. She manages to think without her thoughts being sent to people around her, and she is practically shoulderchecking and nudging anyone who doesn't quite move from her path. Griffin is no exception to this rule, she can't go through him, so he gets knocked into by the hurrying girl, her brows twisting down into a frown.
Griffin…keeps an eye on Ziadie. The guy looked twice. That's never a good sign. Griffin turns his face down a bit more, disguising the act as pulling a pack of cigarettes from his coat and tapping one out into his mouth. As if that were a good way to disguise yourself. He's just about to lift his old zippo lighter to light it, when Harmony runs straight into him.
He lets out a soft 'oof', taking a step back, but holding steady. Thank god nobody can see his eyes, right now. His arms wrap around Harmony's hips to catch her before she manages to fall to the ground, all by instinct. Oh SHIT, I'm going to get recognized, this just draws attention, I need to get the fuck out of— His thought train is only interrupted when he is quite literally looking Harmony in the face, a surprised expression on his.
Then, he smiles. "Fancy bumping into you."
Whoa, proximity alert! There's enough distance between Evan and the others that he should, by all rights, be just fine - but people tend to be startled off balance at times like this. Just to play it safe, he turns and leans back against the nearest stretch of wall, nodding to Ziadie in passing.
The scuffle going on, a pretty girl suddenly in the arms of a scraggly man - that draws attention, right? Its enough to attract the notice of people, but also Brand. He turns his head first, and then comes to stop as he sees that not only is it a scuffle, but Harmony is at the center of it! Recognition washes his over his face, and then his path changes. He steps to the edge of the sidewalk, about to cross over to the side Griffin is on.
Poeple are bumping into people! Old couples are holding hands, city workers are working and telepaths are teep'ing.
sqwuak
Looking around, it's not apparent where it's coming from, the pigeons all look innocent of the sounds, their soft coo's and ruffling of feathers as they peck through the debris that litters the street in hopes of finding some crumbs.
SQWUAK
There's a few more added, a small chorus. Getting louder.
Ziadie watches a moment, a nod to Evan as Ziadie pulls out another cigarette, dropping the remains of his previous one on the ground. There's a hint of recognition to Evan, but it's lost as Ziadie too begins to cross the street, over to where Griffin is, noncommittal overall. The louder bird calls, though, almost distract him from walking over to see if Griffin and Harmony are okay. Almost.
And she is stopped all of a sudden as one person in particular doesn't move or actually topple out of her way. There is tension throughout her body as he grabs onto her, like he is trying to stop someone who is desperately trying to get to the bathroom. Why did it have to be someone she knew. Now they're gonna wanna stop and talk, and she'll be even more uncomfortable trying to hold things back, and people are just going to get busier and make things that much more difficult. She might have learned her lesson today, then again.. who knows. "Oh. Hey, yeah." Harmony forces a smile to her face. She remembers him, after their failed session of recreational drugs. Was a pretty messed up night. "Um. I was just sorta on my way through.. Trying to get by, to get home. Have some…. stuff I have to attend to and everything." On the side, she is noticing the gathering of birds and it makes her frown a little more. Now the birds are starting to get busier too.
…Birds. Bird are squaking. Loudly. And it's not those pigeons hanging out all over the place, certainly. They don't make noises like that. If anything, they sound amusing then they're 'talking'. Griffin would, in normal circumstances, be inspecting Harmony, to make sure she's not come to any harm. However, he's very distracted by the sounds of the birds, his eyes raising up toward the skies.
And his hands are still around her hips. He doesn't like that. He knows that Eileen has an ability to control birds. And when birds start going SQUAWK really loud out of nowhere, his mind starts buzzing, just a little. It makes him just a little uneasy— especially because, when he was a kid, he used The Birds to scare the tar out of his sister. But who knows— maybe it's Eileen, off doing some heroish thing.
"That's…nice." He mutters, his eyes skimming the sky above with a frown. Ziadie is noticed— Griffin is far too twitchy to not notice him, really. But thus far, the man isn't paid attention to. Yet.
The birds have caught Evan's attention as well; he doesn't get that many chances to enjoy their presence, most of the time. He doesn't remember hearing pigeons get that loud… maybe something's been riling them up. Or maybe there's something else going on. Taking a step forward again, he puts a flattened hand to his brow, looking around to see if he can spot anything.
Brand pauses in mid-stride, his foot hovering above the entry to the crosswalk. The sudden shift in the people and the sounds has him now even further concerned. He looks around, drinking in the worry of the faces of others, the strange sounds, and his own face contorts to one of concern. His Ability unspools itself from dormancy, the seeds already planted blooming as more are cast to the winds in search of minds.
Out of the corner of Brand's eyes, a movement of black and white. It's almost as if it might be a figment of his imagination, maybe. Except that the sqwuak comes from that direction. As quick as it came, it's gone. The noise though increases, the others unable to see or sense where the sound is coming from. The pigeons look a little restless though, and all as one take flight, hopping up, wings flapping and up into the air, making for the ledge of a building.
There's a cry of surprise from the older couple and pointing in the direction that Brand might have caught a glimpse of said figment. Can hallucinations be shared?
The pigeons scattering emits a small frown from Ziadie, and he pauses, close enough to Harmony and Griffin to allow them their space but nothing else. The second cigarette is gripped between his teeth, and he winces, trying to get his left arm to cooperate enough to work the lighter in his hand. It doesn't seem to be happening, though, and at the increased noise from whatever it is, the older man loses his grip and the silver zippo drops, bouncing a bit as it falls to land closer to Griffin than to Ziadie. Another wince. "Sir," Ziadie calls. "Could you…" he gestures with his cane to the zippo, "could you get that?"
Scattering pigeons. Nothing really new for Harmony. In fact, she is glad they are shooing away. It was making her nervous that they were were starting to gather. Pigeons can be mean in groups. Though at the moment, the girl wants to squirm a little, still wanting to kind of get away, but Griffin's hold on her makes it a little difficult. She prepares to part her lips to speak out something to Griffin about having to go, but then there is a clatter of metal to where the zippo is dropped, and a request for it to be retrieved. Harmony closes her mouth, seeing her opportunity to perhaps get by. She isn't making a move to pick it up. After all, Griff was asked, not her. I have GOT to get out of here. It'll be my luck that something happens, and there I'll be, stuck around all these people, and reduced to my knees.
And then, in the midst of the loud squawking, Ziadie decides to bring Griffin's attention to him. The man turns, warily eying the older fellow for a moment. Hesitating. Then, his hands (somewhat regretfully) slide off of Harmony's hip, and Griffin is dipping down to the ground, picking the zippo up. His chivalry wins out; how could he deny help to an elderly fellow?
An elderly fellow who happened to have a picture in the newspaper for gunning down a telekinetic.
A bit on the wary side, what with the birds screaming and all of this strange shit happening, Griffin flips open the zippo. First, he quickly lights his own cigarette (he was intending to do so anyhow), then he holds it out to light Nocturne Ziadie's cigarette before offering it back. "You alright there, sir?"
Even if Griffin has a pair of vectors hovering over Ziadie's head, poised to neutralize any threats, he can still be polite.
Thank god for dark sunglasses. Oh shit shit shit shit shit, this is that guy who shot a telekinetic in the mall…I should get out of here. Griffin's thoughts are getting extremely frantic, to say the very least.
There's a growing tension visible in the way Evan flexes his fingertips, if anyone's looking, which they probably aren't at this point. He still hasn't worked out where that noise is coming from, and he isn't sure what everyone else is worked up about but he's pretty sure they are, more so than just some funny noises off in the distance would account for. One step, then another, just in case it suddenly becomes a good idea to make a break for it. You never know, these days…
Ziadie sees it next, though everyone hears them. five in total, coming up to knees and shins of everyone present. Inside the animal control vehicle, there's a startled officer and his horn honks as he drops his hand.
Penguins.
Ones that were never quite rounded up from the year before who found cool climes below the city and with the approach of winter, the setting in of storms, it's made it more hospitable. Spotted here and there, around New York and even by those who stayed on Pollepel, they're moving. They're moving fast.
It's not two moments later that it's apparent why they're moving fast as in the very near distance there are dogs barking now, and getting closer.
"Thanks," Ziadie says, carefully pocketing the zippo. "Was a gift fr'm a friend." His cigarette is clenched in his teeth, slurring his words a bit more than the alcohol already did. "'d hate to lose it and…" then there are penguins. The older man is startled, taking an involuntary step towards the buildings and away from the middle of the street, hopefully to let the penguins pass as much as possible. "Fucking hell."
"What?" Harmony blinks and gives Griffin a look. A look that shows confusion at the thought that he let go. She turns to look at Ziadie, as he was the subject of the thought and her mind starts to wonder. Hrm.. Shooting telekinetics and such? How.. odd. Even more of a reason for her to hurry out of the area. And then, all of a sudden, all heck breaks loose as penguins come flocking into the area. This makes her freeze in place and open her jaw, speechless. Are you kidding? Penguins? From.. from where? She was sure they only lived in places where there was so much ice. There is a moment to where she is about to pick one up, buuuuut she decides against it. "Okay. That is a sign from god, that I should be home.."
A faint smile is offered to Ziadie, Griffin raising his brows over the dark black aviators he wears. "I know the feeling, I have a few of those myself." He takes a puff of his own cigarette, leaning back to watch Ziadie with a cautious eye. Maybe he's harmless. He is a pretty old guy…wouldn't take much to bring him down. He inhales the smoke…
And then, he just kind of slowly lets the smoke crawl out from the corner of his mouth, which is slightly slack at the sight of a group of arctic birds running away from…dogs. The world has turned upside down while Griffin was on Pollepel, it seems, and now penguins are running the streets and having gang wars with packs of dogs. This is just beautiful.
When Griffin left Pollepel today, he really didn't expect to be defending penguins from dogs.
Vectors are pulled away from Ziadie, raised to hover in the air as Griffin turns toward the sound of dogs.
For a good long moment, Evan just stands there and stares. It's actually a believable sight, considering - maybe they got loose from the zoo, maybe some rich old coot has a private flock, maybe someone teleported them here - but that doesn't make it any less weird. The dogs are more of a concern; they could be rabid, or just cranky about anyone getting between them and their quarry. Instinctively wrapping his arms around himself as he's reminded of the cold, he starts walking quickly, eyeing the ground for slippery spots along the way.
Brand presses himself against a handily placed parked car, using it as a breaker in anticipation of the rising tide of animals rapidly approaching. The combination of penguins and dogs is so bizarre in and of itself that he has to struggle to control his panic, which only serves to further fuel his Ability. Within seconds, he has become a blank space, a null zone of anti-attention.
Penguins are not as fast as dogs and soon they too are rounding the corner, even as the man down the manhole is sticking his head up when his partner is yelling about penguins. The animal control officer is on his radio, bellowing for some help and that there are penguins down here. With the impending horde of dogs, only three of them, the penguins scatter, one of them taking refuge behind Ziadie and harmony, another diving around Evan, Brand ignored by the birds and by everyone who's present on the street.
"Oh John!" The older woman says. "Penguins! Someone save them!" Because clearly they won't be saving them. The old people that is.
Dogs, just what Ziadie needed. There was a bit of a smile back at Griffin, though. Being understood is always a good thing. The older man fumbles with his cane, slipping the wrist strap for it over his left arm to be able to take out the flask again. Because dogs and penguins aren't making the older man's day any better. The older man's gaze darts between Harmony, Griffin, the animal control officers. God damn. So first everything earlier happens and now this. What'd I got to do to catch a break around this town.
With the penguin apparently behind him, now, Ziadie takes a step closer to Griffin. It's clear that whether or not he can respond to some situations, he doesn't have a clue what to do with this one.
Ho-kay. That is her queue to go. She is not gonna stay around while wild animal kingdom runs rampant, and she catches the bird flu from these things or something. "S'too weird for me.." Harmony comments and shakes her head. At least now they have provided a suitable distraction in order for her to slip away. So making sure not to step on any birds or anything, Harmony starts to move, running in the same direction the penguins are going, in order to get herself home and in the sanctity of her quiet spot, where no thoughts can come in. "You guys have fun with that." she comments lastly as she slips away.
Stupid lazy old people— they always expect the younger folks to do all of the work. Griffin must idly wonder— if he saves the penguins from the dogs, will he be idolized as the man who saved the poor little birds, or will the media find a way to twist things around? Not that he plans on being here when the media arrives. That would be suicidal.
After a brief glance around, Griffin turns his gaze back toward those three dogs that are after an arctic birdie snack with raised brows. This is— crazy, to say the very least about the situation.
Hesitation might mean a dead flightless bird, though. While Griffin outwardly appears to be standing, staring agape at the sight in front of him, he is actually doing what Marsha just begged John to do. Reaching out with his vectors, his eyes glowing beneath those big huge aviators he loves so much, Griffin quite promptly attempts to grab each dog, and…quite literally pick them up by the scruff of the neck (with a vector to support their rumps), and float them back toward the animal control.
Hopefully, those animal control folks don't realize that they're being assisted by a cane-wielding terrorist.
While Griffin invokes the Fickle Finger of Fate to set the dogs back a few paces, Evan is busy using his regular old pair of arms to shoo one of the penguins forward. "C'mon, this way! If we make it out of this alive, I'll buy you a tin of sardines." It's not an entirely selfless gesture; he's liable to trip over the unpredictable creature if they don't keep up a steady movement.
Brand takes this opportunity to exit, stage most convenient. Fortunately nobody sees him, or stops him, or attacks him. A perk of his cloaking Ability!
Griffin's making short work of the dogs, the animal control officer taking care of one while griffin seems to be taking care of the other two. Not that anyone else can seem to notice. harmony and Brand disappear, melt away into the people who are in Greenwich with no one noticing them - ability or no.
Evan's impromptu charge sqwuaks his disapproval, being ushered away by the mathematician but the other four are soon joining him and their errant sibling/companion and start to head off, away from animal control, making for the manhole cover. They're going underground again.
Now this is interesting. Ziadie takes a long drag from the cigarette, stumbling a little as the penguin is all too happy to get away from where it had been hiding behind him and rejoin the group. The older man leans on his cane, perhaps paying too much attention to the events at hand to move, or perhaps just lost in thought at this point, humming the tune to an old Beatles song.
Once Griffin is confident that the dogs have been shoved into the proper containment units for stray dogs, the man whirls around. After a brief glance toward Ziadie, Griffin turns, making his way after the penguins in quick steps, using his free vectors in an attempt to keep them away from the manhole cover, as well as being tightly clustered into a group. invisible tentacle arms are pretty useful, really.
All the while, Griffin is quietly smoking his cigarette, mostly looking like a man who is curious about the penguins that have caused such sudden mayhem. "Hey! Get someone over here, these things need to go back to the zoo!" He shouts this over to the animal control guys, hoping nobody recognizes him before he can disappear.
At this point, Evan doesn't really have a stake in the issue any longer. Would it be better for the penguins if they made it back down, or if animal control rounded them up along with the dogs? Would it be better for the humans? He has no clue, and so he just stands out of the way again, watching the procession with unconcealed bemusement as it waddles past him.
There's more than enough hands to help with the penguins, to gather up this small break away group from wherever the rest are. Ziadie and griffin, Evan even can mosey off and do when they see the dogs are rounded up, the penguins wrestled much to their sqwuaking displeasure at being touched and corralled. They'll be returned to the zoo who will decide what to do with this small errant batch. At least there are still five, and it could have been worse.
Could have been a pretty good picnic for some dogs.